The half-seal did not remain on that morning's blackboard.
After lunch, Takuma led the children to the training ground and had them integrate the half-finished hand sign from the morning into their footwork. Their hands had to stop while their feet kept moving. Whoever rushed ahead had to start over from the starting line.
Sasuke appeared near the end of the afternoon training.
By then, the light at the edge of the field had already slanted. The children had just finished practicing the footwork transition after the half-seal. Everyone's wrists ached. Kiyo held both hands up before his chest as though cradling two invisible bowls.
"My hands don't feel like mine anymore," he said.
Morita Yu put the wooden sticks back into the basket. "Then you can donate them to someone who knows how to use them better."
"You can't treat a fellow student like that."
"I'm only providing options."
Che sat at the edge of the training ground, rewrapping his wrist guards. Adding footwork after half-seal training was harder than practicing it alone. The hands wanted to stop, but the feet wanted to move; once the feet moved, the hands wanted to complete the second half. Takuma had them repeatedly go from the starting line to the stopping line until the half-seal in their hands remained steady and their footing did not falter.
Che had passed this round, but his wrists ached as though someone had twisted them. As he lowered his head to wrap the cloth, he heard several younger students at the edge of the field whisper, "Sasuke."
He looked up.
Second Pillar stood outside the training ground with a small backpack on his back. His face still retained the softness unique to children his age, yet his eyes were serious. He had not come for this